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Characters
Characters Thomas Covenant - a writer from Earth who contracted leprosy and thus lost his wife, his son, his career and virtually all human contact, he is brought to the magical world of the Land. His wedding ring, made of white gold, is a powerful talisman of wild magic, which he cannot control, even as he disputes the reality of the Land itself. Naming himself Unbeliever, the First Chronicle follows Covenant's journey from bitterness and disbelief to empathy and even love. Covenant has lost the last two fingers of his right hand, a trait that he shares with Berek Halfhand, the first of the Old Lords from ancient times. On that basis, he is accorded deep respect by the Lords of Revelstone upon their first meeting. Acting out of a volatile blend of repressed emotions suddenly unleashed, Covenant is guilty of raping a young girl, an act for which he attempts to make amends later, but has serious consequences later on. He is befriended by Saltheart Foamfollower, a Giant from Coercri. Covenant later gains the friendship of Lord Mhoram, youngest of the Council of Lords, and the protection of the Bloodguard Bannor. These three provide him with an emotional anchor as he navigates profound questions of morality, judgment and empathy in his first visits to the Land. Lord Foul - a spectral, satanic figure of boundless hatred and malice, he was the "dark twin" of the Land's Creator, trapped inside the Arch of Time when the Creator sealed off his creation even from himself. He has spent many millennia working to break free of his confinement, often settling for ruining as much of the Creator's world as possible. Assuming human form, he befriended and then betrayed High Lord Kevin Landwaster, the last and greatest of the Old Lords of Revelstone. He partnered with Kevin in enacting the Ritual of Desecration, hoping that the fury of the baneful magic might unmake the world; instead, he was blasted to near oblivion and spent long years recovering. His three primary servants are the Ravers: Herem, Sheol and Jehannum. These bodiless spirits were once human, corrupted in life by Foul and bound to serve him ever after. They are able to possess living bodies. Foul masterminded Drool Rockworm's recovery of the Staff of Law and the Illearth Stone from beneath Mount Thunder, and instructed the Cavewight in their use. He had Covenant brought to the Land in order to manipulate him into using wild magic to break the Arch of Time. Failing in his first attempt, he inflicting horrific punishment on the Land and its people to induce Covenant to despair and fury, hoping to repeat his success with Kevin. He failed and was defeated decisively (but not finally). His second effort exploited the loss of the Staff of Law, an occurrence that weakened the Laws that bound the Earthpower and allowed his Raver-possessed servants, a line of na-Mhorams including Gibbon, to create and sustain the magical perversion known as the Sunbane. Fed by the blood of the Haruchai, the Sunbane wracked the land with cycles of devastating weather, illness, and freakish accelerated growth. He was opposed in this plan by Covenant and Linden Avery, who completed a quest to recreate the Staff of Law and abolish the Sunbane. This ended with Covenant's death and ascension to becoming the Guardian of the Arch of Time. Foul's third plan involved wakening the Worm of the World's End, an entity associated with the One Tree. It is the only entity known to be capable of destroying the Arch of Time from within. Despite all going according to plan, Covenant, Avery and her foster son Jeremiah proved capable of defeating his schemes and putting an end to the danger of Lord Foul forever. Linden Avery - a medical doctor from the same Earth as Covenant, she saw Covenant murdered by cultists (including Covenant's own wife Joan Covenant) inspired by visions from Lord Foul. She found herself in the Land subsequently and engaged in efforts to oppose Lord Foul, at first to save herself and Covenant but later because of a profound commitment to the Land. She was responsible for the recreation of the Staff of Law and became its foremost user. Avery proved to be one of the Land's most capable and determined protectors. After her first journey to the Land, she became guardian of a boy traumatized by time spent with Foul's cultists--Jeremiah--and was guiding him back toward stability by encouraging his uncanny talent for construction. Jeremiah - Linden Avery's foster son, Jeremiah displayed an ongoing connection to the Land by building replicas of notable landmarks such as Revelstone. Although briefly corrupted by an insidious force, Jeremiah was won back over to Avery's allegiance and was invaluable in the aftermath of the Worm's devastation of the World. =Lords of Revelstone= High Lord Prothall - High Lord of the Council during Covenant's first visit to the Land, Prothall son of Dwillian is elderly but physically fit. Though daunted by the horrific news Covenant bears of Foul's return and his prophecy of doom in 49 years, he resolves to take action and recover the Staff of Law from Drool Rockworm as this represents the most immediate threat. He leads a Quest to Mount Thunder, hoping to infiltrate Rockworm's lair and regain the Staff, but their efforts are thwarted by Foul's preparations, Drool's madness and even an unsuspected treasure hidden in the mountain's depths. Prothall proves his mettle by fighting Rockworm for the Staff and wresting it from him. His closest friend was the Hirebrand Birinair, who lost his life during the Quest. Lord Mhoram - the son of two Lords, Mhoram was the youngest of the Council, as well as the only seer and oracle in their ranks: he had flashes of precognition and clairvoyance but did not have the ability to summon these on command. He befriended Covenant very early on and held to that friendship, even when there seemed little reason to do so. He was part of the Quest that recovered the Staff of Law and the Second Ward of Kevin's Lore from Mount Thunder. Mhoram was also the only Lord who remained on the Council in the time of Covenant's second visit. He undertook a scouting mission to gain information on Lord Foul's strength prior to the start of battle during The Illearth War and was the Lord's representative in the Warward, leading alongside Hile Troy. He helped persuade the Forestal Caerroil Wildwood to let the battered and defeated Warward pass through Garroting Deep, which led to the annihilation of the Raver Fleshharrower and Foul's army. Mhoram later ascended to become High Lord prior to Covenant's last visit, when the Land was under an unnatural winter and Revelstone itself was besieged. He had glimpses of the events beyond the Lords Keep through the power of the [[krill of Loric]]--the gemstone of which reacted to uses of the Illearth Stone and the wild magic. Aware that Covenant had engaged Lord Foul with the white gold, he led a desperate charge against the army led by the Raver Satansfist and succeeded in breaking the siege of Revelstone. He later flung the krill into the waters of the lake above Revelstone, symbolically casting off the legacy of Kevin and the Old Lords. He pledged to seek new lore, which aligned with the Oath of Peace. His shade later offered Covenant counsel when encountered in the Hills of Andelain. High Lord Elena - daughter of Lena and Thomas Covenant, Elena is regarded as one of the most gifted of the New Lords and one of its greatest leaders. She had a tragic flaw, however, in that she idealized both High Lord Kevin and her father; in the end, both failed to live up to her expectations. Elena grew up in Mithil Stonedown and had the rare privilege of riding Ranyhyn as a child. She studied at the Loresraat and became a Lord, then achieved the High Lordship despite her relative youth. She led the Council in creating the city of Revelwood as a place of learning and healing; she built up the Warward into a capable military force and found Hile Troy to lead it; she undertook intensive study of the First and Second of Kevin's Wards, gleaning enough to discern the location of the fabled Seventh Ward; and she mastered the craft of bone sculpting, creating a likeness of Covenant that he first mistook for a Bloodguard. Elena led the expedition under Melenkurion Skyweir, seeking the Seventh Ward with the intent of ending the threat of Lord Foul once and for all. Although she grasped the scope of the Earthblood's power, she misused it recklessly by summoning the shade of Kevin to battle Lord Foul. Foul turned her own weapon against her and she died beneath the mountains, battling Kevin's shade. During Covenant's third visit to the Land, he discovered that Elena had been raised by Foul and was using the Staff of Law to create an unending winter. She had also imprisoned both Bannor (now no longer a Bloodguard) and Saltheart Foamfollower, as well as toppling the magical Colossus of the Fall. Virulent and cruel, she taunted Covenant mercilessly before seeking to kill him and take his white gold ring. Her plan failed, however, when the wild magic destroyed the Staff and defeated Elena's shade conclusively. Other Lords: Hyrim Verement Shetra Callindrill Osondrea =People of the Land / First Chronicles= Lena - a girl from the village of Mithil Stonedown, she is the first human to encounter Thomas Covenant in the Land. She treats his injuries with Hurtloam, feeds him Aliantha, and takes him to her home. She is unaware of the violent emotions plaguing Covenant upon his arrival and is raped by Covenant. She gives birth to Elena, who rides Ranyhyn as a child and later masters both magic and martial arts to become the High Lord of the Council. Lena is later encountered as a madwoman, her mind broken by the burden of so much despair and grief and anger, but she manages to assist Covenant in his efforts to stop Lord Foul. Atiaran - Lena's mother and Elena's grandmother, she studied at the Loresraat as a young woman but ended her studies, married Trell and had a child in Mithil Stonedown. She welcomes Covenant initially but is horrified and furious with rage at his violation of her daughter. Refusing to judge him, she guides him to Andelain, where she gives his care over to Saltheart Foamfollower and asks him to convey Covenant to the Lords of Revelstone. Trell - Lena's father and Elena's grandfather and Gravelingas of Mithil Stonedown. He has the knowledge of Rhadhamaerl, the stone lore that his people kept following the Desecration, and is able to restore stone objects through concentration and effort. Although he initially welcomed Covenant, he was overcome with rage after Covenant's violation of his daughter. He proved to be a loving grandfather to Elena, but during his time in Revelstone--he was there during the siege--he lost control of his rage and triggered a miniature Ritual on his own, melting part of the Lord's Chamber and killing himself. Triock - Lena's intended, a young man of Mithil Stonedown and eventually a Gravelingas in his own right. After Covenant raped Lena, he attacked Covenant and accused him of being a Raver. Atiaran persuaded him not to kill Covenant. He became a foster father to Elena. Baradakas - Hirebrand of Soaring Woodhelven, he administers a Test of Truth to Covenant using a rod of Lomillialor. He is awestruck when Covenant is able to strike him with the rod, as no Hirebrand has ever been injured by a descendant of the One Tree. Quaan - at first Mark (small unit commander) of the Eoman that protects Prothall's Quest to Mount Thunder, he later ascends to being Warmark (general, overall commander) of the Warward. He distrusts Covenant, partly because the mystic "health sense" of those living in the Land cannot penetrate Covenant; he is disturbingly opaque to them, even when he is not suffering the effects of leprosy.